Article 1-Chinese and Rockets!

Just when the first true rockets appeared is unclear. Stories of early rocket like devices appear sporadically through the historical records of various cultures. Perhaps the first true rockets were accidents. In the first century A.D., the Chinese reportedly had a simple form of gunpowder made from saltpeter, sulfur, and charcoal dust. To create explosions during religious festivals, they filled bamboo tubes with a mixture and tossed them into fires. Perhaps some of those tubes failed to explode and instead skittered out of the fires, propelled by the gases and sparks produced by the burning gunpowder.

The Chinese began experimenting with the gunpowder-filled tubes. At some point, they attached bamboo tubes to arrows and launched them with bows. Soon they discovered that these gunpowder tubes could launch themselves just by the power produced from the escaping gas. The true rocket was born.

The date reporting the first use of true rockets was in 1232. At this time, the Chinese and the Mongols were at war with each other. During the battle of Kai-Keng, the Chinese repelled the Mongol invaders by a barrage of "arrows of flying fire." These fire-arrows were a simple form of a solid-propellant rocket. A tube, capped at one end, contained gunpowder. The other end was left open and the tube was attached to a long stick. When the powder was ignited, the rapid burning of the powder produced fire, smoke, and gas that escaped out the open end and produced a thrust. The stick acted as a simple guidance system that kept the rocket headed in one general direction as it flew through the air. It is not clear how effective these arrows of flying fire were as weapons of destruction, but their psychological effects on the Mongols must have been formidable.

Following the battle of Kai-Keng, the Mongols produced rockets of their own and may have been responsible for the spread of rockets to Europe. All through the 13th to the 15th centuries there were reports of many rocket experiments.

History of Rocketry 18th and 19th Centuries Written and Edited by Cliff Lethbridge

Article 2-Indian Troops Use War Rockets Against The British

In 1788, Indian Hyder Ally formed a rocketeer contingent made up of 1,200 men. His son, Tippoo Sultaun, would soon have the opportunity to use rockets quite effectively against the British. At the Battle of Seringapatam in 1792, Indian soldiers launched a huge barrage of rockets against British troops, followed by an assault of 36,000 men.

Although the Indian rockets were primitive by modern standards, their sheer numbers, noise and brilliance were said to have been quite effective at disorienting British soldiers. During the night, the rockets were often seen as blue lights bursting in the air.

Since Indian forces were able to launch these bursting rockets from in front of and behind British lines, they were a tremendous tool for throwing the British off guard. The bursting rockets were usually followed by a deadly shower of rockets aimed directly at the soldiers.

Some of these rockets passed from the front of the British columns to the rear, inflicting injury and death as they passed. Sharp bamboo was typically affixed to the rockets, which were designed to bounce along the ground to produce maximum damage.

Remarkably, two of the rockets fired by Indian troops in 1792 are on display at the Royal Artillery Museum in London. One of these rockets is made up of an iron case 10 inches long by 2.3 inches wide. It is bound to a metal sword that is 40 inches long.

The second rocket has an iron case 7.8 inches long by 1.5 inches wide bound by leather strips to a bamboo stick that is 6 feet, 3 inches long. Each rocket is thought to have a maximum range of 1,000 yards, and eyewitness accounts in 1792 indicated that just one rocket killed three men and injured four others.

Although Indian forces used rockets against the British again during the Battle of Seringapatam in 1799, the British would quickly sieze the opportunity to study these weapons, refine them and introduce their own wartime rockets.

Article 3-British Congreve Rockets Are Introduced

By 1804, Colonel (later Sir) William Congreve had begun studying and refining captured Indian rockets at the Royal Laboratory, Woolwich Arsenal in Kent. His first product was an elongated, larger version of the Indian rocket specifically designed to be launched from ships for the purpose of setting fires on an enemy shoreline.

A variety of rockets, which quickly became known as Congreve rockets after their designer, were introduced weighing 18, 24, 32, 42, 100 or 300 pounds. The rocket most widely used in battle weighed 32 pounds, with a gunpowder charge housed in a casing 3 feet, 6 inches long by 4 inches wide.

Each 32-pound rocket was typically mounted on a stick measuring 15 feet long by 1.5 inches wide. Thus, they became known as stick rockets. Stick rockets could be produced inexpensively and in large numbers. Many stick rockets employed a conical, metal warhead that embedded itself in its target before oozing a slow-burning incendiary mixture.

In addition to incendiary rockets, Congreve also introduced rockets that carried shot which was ejected like shrapnel by an embedded gunpowder charge. The smallest of these rockets weighed just 3 to 12 pounds, and could be easily deployed by infantry units.

Congreve also introduced flare rockets that carried parachutes. These were used to illuminate battlefields at night, or alternately used as signal rockets. Congreve experimented at sending battlefield messages by rocket, but his rockets proved too inaccurate for this purpose.

In 1806, more than 2,000 Congreve rockets were fired against the city of Boulonge. These rockets reportedly so stunned the French that not one shot was returned. In 1807, Copenhagen was severely damaged by fires caused by the launching of 25,000 Congreve rockets. The rockets were fired against the island of Aix in the same year.

Congreve Rockets Create The "Rockets' Red Glare"

On September 13 and 14, 1814 a 25-hour barrage of Congreve rockets was fired from the British ship Erebus against Fort McHenry in Baltimore. The Erebus carried about 20 Congreve rocket batteries consisting of a box housing multiple metal firing tubes.

Each of the rockets fired against Fort McHenry weighed about 30 pounds, and carried an incendiary charge. Although a number of American ships were destroyed by Congreve rockets during the War of 1812, just four deaths and minimal damage was reported at Fort McHenry during the siege.

However, the battle was witnessed by a young lawyer named Francis Scott Key, who mentioned the Congreve "rockets' red glare" in his song "The Star Spangled Banner". The song later became the U.S. National Anthem, paying tribute to the tenacity of the American forces under siege.

Congreve rockets were not only fired from ships during the War of 1812, but on land as well. Congreve rockets launched by British ground troops reportedly terrified American soldiers. These rockets typically weighed 3 to 12 pounds each, and carried case-shot carbine balls that flew out like shrapnel when a charge of gunpowder exploded.

The rockets surprised a rifle battalion led by U.S. Attorney General William Pinkney at the Battle of Bladensburg on August 24, 1814. After his victory at this battle, British commander Lt. George R. Gleig wrote of the American soldiers, "Never did men with arms in their hands make better use of their legs."

With a range of up to 3,000 yards, the land-launched Congreve rockets could be quite effective. They were sometimes launched from oar-driven boats toward American soldiers on the shoreline, or toward ships.

Congreve rockets were fired during the Battle of Waterloo in 1815. Not long afterward, rockets similar to those designed by Congreve were introduced in other nations.

Article 3.5-British Hale Rockets Become First U.S. War Rockets

The United States made their first use of Hale rockets during the Mexican War of 1846-1848. Since the United States and Great Britain were allies by this time, Hale rockets were made readily available to U.S. troops.

Although Hale rockets originated in Great Britain, they played an important role in the history of rocketry in the United States. Hale rockets were the first rockets used by United States armed forces in battle.

On November 19, 1846 Major General Winfield Scott was selected to lead an expeditionary force to Veracruz, Mexico and on to Mexico City. His force included a brigade of rocketeers, the first in the history of the United States armed forces.

Volunteers for this rocket brigade were solicited via posters beginning on December 4, 1846. Posters requested, "active, brave young men to serve with rocket and mountain howitzer batteries, now preparing by the Ordnance Department for immediate departure."

Training of this brigade was conducted at Fort Monroe, Virginia. The battery, including the rocketeers, was placed under the command of First Lt. George H. Talcott. The rocket brigade itself was placed under the command of Brevet Second Lt. Jesse Lee Reno.

The rocket brigade consisted of 150 men and their equipment, which included a number of 2.25-inch, 6-pound versions of the Hale rocket. The rocket brigade departed Fort Monroe on February 1, 1847 on the bark Saint Cloud. The rocket brigade joined Scott's expeditionary forces on the island of Lobos, 200 miles north of Veracruz, in late February.

The force sailed on to Anton Lizardo, then to Sacrificios, located just three miles southeast of Veracruz. The main landing at Veracruz took place on March 9, 1847 when 67 surf boats, each carrying 75 to 80 men including the rocket brigade, sailed ashore.

Troops quickly advanced to Veracruz, which was placed under siege. The first Hale rockets were launched on March 24, 1847 against Veracruz fortifications. The city surrendered on March 29, 1847.

On April 8, 1847 the rocket brigade moved inland, having been transferred to the command of General David Twiggs. The force quickly advanced along a route discovered by Captain Robert E. Lee. A rocket battery was established at La Atalaya after its occupation. About 30 rockets were fired against El Telegrafo Hill on April 18, 1847.

In August, 1847 rockets were being fired against Mexican forces in and around Mexico City, most notably at Cherubusco. On September 12 and 13, 1847 a rocket barrage was effectively used to soften Mexican positions during the storming of Chapultepec.

The rocket brigade was disbanded in 1848 as the Mexican War drew to a close. United States forces made good use of Hale rockets, and may have also defended themselves against Mexican rockets. A number of Congreve rockets were included in the captured arsenals of Santa Anna, although there are no specific

Article 4-The First Multi-Stage Rocket Is Introduced

The year 1855 saw the introduction of the first two-stage rocket, and it was developed for peaceful purposes. The ship rescue line concept pioneered by Henry Trengrouse was improved to increase the range of the rockets and allow for the transport of heavier cord.

What became known as the Boxer rocket was developed by British Lt. Colonel E.M. Boxer at the Royal Laboratory. The rocket weighed just six pounds, but incorporated two gunpowder charges separated by a small charge of quick-burning powder.

As the first gunpowder charge "stage" burned itself out in an upward direction, it ignited the quick-burning powder charge and fell away. The quick-burning powder charge then ignited the second gunpowder charge "stage" which continued on toward its target.

Boxer rockets were able to carry a durable half-inch hemp line a distance of about 1,000 feet. The rockets were used in rescue line applications until shortly after World War I.

Rockets Are Used In Whaling

In the latter half of the 19th century, rockets were also used in an interesting, if now considered inhumane, manner. Whaling rockets, also known as whaling harpoons, had a barbed pointed head carrying an explosive charge designed to detonate after entering the whale.

A line was spliced to the rocket to aid in recovering the whale. Whaling rockets are perhaps most worthy of interest because they were launched from small hand-held tubes resembling the modern bazookaa.

Article 5-The U.S. Civil War Sees Limited Use Of Rockets

By the start of the Civil War in 1860, military rockets had all but disappeared. Rockets declined in importance due to the deadly accuracy of conventional artillery, most notably weapons with rifled barrels and breech loading.

However, both sides in the Civil War remembered how well rockets served armed forces during the Mexican War two decades earlier. But, it was quickly discovered that Hale, and even Congreve, rockets that had been stored for long periods of time were rendered useless because their gunpowder charges failed to remain properly bonded to their casings.

This forced both sides to develop new rockets if rockets were to be used at all. The resulting rockets were considered primitive, even by the standards of the day, due to their inaccuracy and unreliability. But, a variety of rockets were used during the Civil War by both sides.

On July 3, 1862 Confederate forces under the command of Jeb Stuart fired rockets at Union troops during the Battle of Harrison's Landing. Colonel James T. Kirk of the 10th Pennsylvania Reserves later wrote that one of his men was wounded by a projectile carried on a rocket fired from "a sort of gun carriage".

Rocket batteries of this type were most often used by Confederate forces in Texas during campaigns in 1863 and 1864. These rockets and their launchers were first manufactured in Galveston, and later in Houston.

The New York Rocket Battalion was the first Union force to be issued rockets. The group was organized by British officer Major Thomas W. Lion and was made up of 160 men. Rockets employed ranged in size from 12 to 20 inches long by 2 to 3 inches wide.

The rockets could be launched from light carriages carrying four wrought iron tubes, each of which was about 8 feet long. They could also be launched from 3.25-inch diameter guiding rods bound together in an open framework, or from individual 3-inch diameter sheet-iron tubes.

Each rocket was primarily designed to deliver flammable compounds, but could carry musket balls placed in a hollow shell and exploded by a timed fuse. Although the New York Battalion rockets could fly a remarkable maximum distance of 3 miles, they were extremely erratic and were never used in combat.

Union troops under the command of General Alexander Schimmelfennig did fire rockets against Confederate forces in South Carolina. He found the rockets most useful for driving enemy picket boats out of creeks and harbors.

Article 6-Primitive Rocket Aircraft Are Proposed

In 1881, Russian Nikolai Kibalchich is believed to have designed the first rocket propelled aircraft, and perhaps the first gimbaled engine.

Kibalchich had been imprisoned for designing the explosive device used to assassinate Czar Alexander II as he drove through St. Petersburg. While awaiting execution, he apparently drew up a design for a wooden platform that could carry a pilot.

Under the platform was a vertically mounted thrust chamber. Gunpowder was to be fed continuously into the chamber and ignited. The resulting thrust would be used to raise the platform and keep it airborne.

In his papers, which did not surface until 1918, Kibalchich suggested that the chamber could be tilted to propel the platform and steer it in any direction. Although his designs never left the drawing board, Kibalchich foresaw the gimbaled engine, a mainstay of modern rocketry.

In 1890, German Hermann Ganswindt proposed a similar method to that of Kibalchich for powering a manned rocket propelled aircraft. Although Ganswindt did not realize that exhaust pressure thrust downward would be sufficient to raise a vehicle, his idea was quite interesting.

Ganswindt suggested that steel cartridges containing dynamite should be exploded one after the other within a combustion chamber to raise the vehicle. Half of each cartridge would be ejected downward, while the other half would be thrust upward to create lift for the vehicle.

It is perhaps good that the work of Ganswindt never left the drawing board, because the dynamite thrust chamber he proposed would have doubtless killed anyone trying to use it.

Article 7-Rocket Technology and World War TwoWorld War Two was the first war to see the concerted use of rockets – be they rockets fired at civilians such as the V1 and V2, rockets fired from planes at trains, as was seen so clearly in the early days after D-Day in June 1944 and rocket systems such as the Katyusha used to support the infantry by the Russians in their advance to Berlin.

Developments in planes and tanks, for example, had occurred in the 1930’s. The same cannot generally be said for rockets. It was World War Two that gave the stimulus for rocket development, which culminated in the V2 and post-World War Two, the intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) of the Cold War.

The father of the rocket in modern times was considered to be the Russian Tsiolkovsky. As early as 1903, he had developed the theoretical formula of a rocket powered by liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen. In America, Robert Goddard also experimented with rockets and in the 1920’s several of his inventions flew to a height of several hundred feet. When Goddard died in 1945, the government and the military had largely ignored his work. It was only in 1959, that Congress posthumously (after death) honored him.

Piecemeal rocket development was carried out in several nations pre-war but the governments of each nation invariably ignored what was being done. It was World War Two that gave the boost to rocket development, so that by 1945, the V2 had been launched and rockets were here to stay – both for military and for space development.

The countries most associated with rocket development were Germany, America, Great Britain and Japan.

Article 8-Germany and Rocket DevelopmentThe country most associated with rocket development during World War Two is Nazi Germany. Such was the impact made by German scientists such as von Braun, that their developments spear-headed post-war missile developments both in weapons and in space exploration. The work done at Pennemünde has gone down in history.

Germany had started its rocket development plan in the 1930’s. Germany’s first liquid fuel rocket was fired in 1931 – the so-called Huckel-Winkler 1. Both men, Huckel and Winkler, were enthusiasts who probably had no inkling that by 1945, their own countrymen would develop missiles that had the sole purpose of destruction of property and people.

When Hitler came to power in January 1933, Germany started its move towards militarism and there were those who could see the military potential of rockets. The enthusiasts who developed for mere reasons of hobby and science were replaced by men who had a more sinister purpose for rockets.

The first of the so-called ‘A’ rockets actually flew as early as 1933. The A-2 flew to 6,500 feet in 1934 and by 1937, the A-3, powered by a LOX/ethanol engine, was flying. The next variant in the series (the A-4) has a more familiar title – the V2 as the A series actually developed into the V2.

The remote site at Pennemünde housed some of the world’s top rocket scientists. It was a self-contained complex – but was still open to allied bombing during the war. The scientists also faced another major problem. According to Albert Speer in ‘Inside the Third Reich’, Hitler and the likes of Göering showed little interest in rockets as they failed to comprehend the science behind it. Though Hitler was very keen to believe in his own mind about a super-weapon that would change the course of the war, the

numerous and understandable failures at Pennemünde during test flights led to less than enthusiastic support from Hitler. Speer claims that the V1 and V2 could well have come into operation two years earlier (1942 instead of 1944) if there had been steadfast backing by the Führer.

Germany’s first rocket to be used against Britain was the V1 – V for Vergeltungswaffen (revenge or reprisal). The V1 was a winged missile propelled by a petrol-fuel pulse-jet. The V1 was simple to produce and cheap. They could, of course, be caught in flight by British fighter planes (primarily the Spitfire) and anti-aircraft batteries also learned how to track their flight while they were over Britain. Many were either shot down or tipped off target by fighters and it is thought that only 20% of the V1’s ever fired at Britain actually reached their target. However, when they did land they could do extensive damage. Research also indicates that they did a great deal to unease the public in London when the noise of the engine and then its cutting out filled people with dread.

The V2, pictured above, was a different proposition. This was a true rocket in the sense that it left the atmosphere, before returning at a speed that made it unstoppable. The terror the V2 brought to London is difficult to imagine in the 21st Century.

The V2’s first successful flight was on October 3rd, 1942. The destruction of Pennemünde by the RAF led to V2 production being transferred to Nordhausen in the Harz Mountains. By 1945, 900 missiles a month were being produced. The factory was built into a mountain so it could not be bombed.

The first use in anger of the V2 ended in failure. Two were launched at Paris on September 6th, 1944, but they both failed in flight. On September 8th, 1944, that V2 attack on southern England started. About 4,000 were fired on England and but less than 1,500 actually reached their target. It seems that many broke up in flight and that the sheer speed of the rocket was too much for its casing. It is also thought that its guidance system, though advanced for the day, was simply not good enough and many may well have simply hit the sea that surrounds Britain.

Article 9-Sputnik and The Dawn of the Space Age

History changed on October 4, 1957, when the Soviet Union successfully launched Sputnik I. The world's first artificial satellite was about the size of a beach ball (58 cm.or 22.8 inches in diameter), weighed only 83.6 kg. or 183.9 pounds, and took about 98 minutes to orbit the Earth on its elliptical path. That launch ushered in new political, military, technological, and scientific developments. While the Sputnik launch was a single event, it marked the start of the space age and the U.S.-U.S.S.R space race.

 

In July 1955, the White House announced plans to launch an Earth-orbiting satellite.

The Sputnik launch changed everything. As a technical achievement, Sputnik caught the world's attention and the American public off-guard. Its size was more impressive than Vanguard's intended 3.5-pound payload. In addition, the public feared that the Soviets' ability to launch satellites also translated into the capability to launch ballistic missiles that could carry nuclear weapons from Europe to the U.S. Then the Soviets struck again; on November 3, Sputnik II was launched, carrying a much heavier payload, including a dog named Laika. 

Immediately after the Sputnik I launch in October, the U.S. Defense Department responded to the political furor by approving funding for another U.S. satellite project. As a simultaneous alternative to Vanguard, Wernher von Braun and his Army Redstone Arsenal team began work on the Explorer project. 

On January 31, 1958, the tide changed, when the United States successfully launched Explorer I. This satellite carried a small scientific payload that eventually discovered the magnetic radiation belts around the Earth, named after principal investigator James Van Allen. The Explorer program continued as a successful ongoing series of lightweight, scientifically useful spacecraft.

 The Sputnik launch also led directly to the creation of National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). In July 1958, Congress passed the National Aeronautics and Space Act (commonly called the "Space Act"), which created NASA as of October 1, 1958 from the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) and other government agencies. 

Article 10-Apollo Missions to the MoonThe aim of the Apollo programm was to land the first person on the Moon. However, when the program was announced, in 1961, only two people had actually been in space. Scientists were faced with a daunting task - to construct a rocket powerful enough to reach the Moon and a spacecraft that could travel there and back.

Saturn V Rocket

Built for the Apollo missions, the giant Saturn V rocket was one of the most powerful rockets ever built. It was extremely successful, with 13 perfect launches and no failures, even during its test flights. Saturn V carried the Apollo craft into Earth orbit; then the third and final stage fired again to provide an extra boost to place it on the correct trajectory for the Moon.

The Spacecraft

Three main components made up the Apollo spacecraft. The command module (CM) held supplies and contained the crew's quarters, which had just enough room for the astronauts to move around in. Attached to the CM was the service module (SM), which housed the craft's main engine. It supplied electrical power and controlled the crew's life support system. On returning to Earth, the SM was jettisoned, the CM, with the astronauts inside returned to Earth. The third part of the craft was the lunar module.

Lunar Module

The Apollo Lunar Module (LM) carried the astronauts onto the Moon's surface and was home to them during their stay. There were no seats and there was only just enough room for two astronauts to stand. Once on the Moon, the astronauts could leave the LM to explore the surface.

The Missions

Apollo 1

On January 27, 1967, the launch crew and flight crew of the first manned Apollo mission were conducting a simulated countdown to test the operations and compatibility of the CSM and the launch vehicle prior to their scheduled launch the following month. The spacecraft was ready for a simulated launch, with hatch locked, power on, and an internal atmosphere of pure oxygen. The crew of Virgil I. Grissom, Edward H. White II, and Roger B. Chaffee were in their space suits and performing the normal sequence of prelaunch activities.

At about 6:30pm, after over five hours of delays and problems, a spark inside the spacecraft ignited flammable material and instantly engulfed the closed compartment in flames. By the time the hatch was pried away more than five minutes later, the crew had died from asphyxiation.

The precise source of the spark and fire was never determined.

As a result of the fire, many changes were made to the design, manufacturing, test, and checkout procedures of the vehicles and the management of the entire Apollo Program.

Apollo 8

Apollo 8 was launched on December 21, 1968, and was the first manned mission to achieve lunar orbit. The crew of this six-day mission, Frank Borman, James A. Lovell, Jr., and William A. Anders, conducted a complete test of the CSM flight profile for lunar missions. The CSM entered lunar orbit on December 24, 1968, and orbited the moon for ten revolutions (20 hours 7 minutes) before returning to the earth and a controlled reentry into the Pacific Ocean.

Apollo 10

Apollo 10 was a dress rehearsal for a lunar landing mission and was conducted in lunar orbit, but it excluded the actual landing. Launched on May 18, 1969, the spacecraft Charlie Brown (CSM) and Snoopy (LM) spent over two days and 31 revolutions in lunar orbit. The crew of Thomas P. Stafford, John W. Young, and Eugene Andrew Cernan conducted all propulsive maneuvers required for a lunar landing mission

Article 11-Apollo 11 - "One small step for man..."

Apollo 11 was the first lunar-landing mission. Launched on July 16, 1969, the crew of Neil A. Armstrong, Edwin E. Aldrin, Jr., and Michael Collins flew the spacecraft Columbia (CSM) and Eagle (LM). On July 20, 1969, Armstrong and Aldrin landed the Eagle at the relatively flat and unobstructed Tranquillity site on the moon, while Collins remained in the CSM. The LM spent 21 hours 36 minutes on the lunar surface, and the crew spent 2 hours 31 minutes outside the LM in a local area excursion on foot to a distance of approximately 50 m (160 ft) from Tranquillity Base.

Armstrong and Aldrin evaluated the capability of working on the lunar surface, established a small scientific station, and collected 21 kg (46 lb) of lunar rocks and soil. Using the descent stage of the LM as a launching platform, the ascent stage of the LM took off from the moon's surface to rendezvous and dock with the CSM. The spacecraft departed lunar orbit over two days after arrival. This eight-day mission landed and was recovered

safely in the Pacific Ocean. As a precautionary measure, the astronauts were quarantined for 14 days.

Apollo 13

Apollo 13 was launched on April 11, 1970, as the third planned lunar landing mission. The crew of James A. Lovell, Jr., John L. Swigert, Jr., and Fred Wallace Haise, Jr., flew the spacecraft Odyssey (CSM) and Aquarius (LM). Two days after launch, as Apollo 13 approached the moon to begin lunar operations, an explosion occurred that caused the service module of the CSM to lose its oxygen, electrical power, and other systems, including its capability to perform an abort maneuver for a direct return to the earth. The crew quickly moved to the LM which became their lifeboat in space. All of the systems in the command module of the CSM, which remained functional, were deactivated to preserve its capability to reenter the atmosphere upon return to the earth. The LM had no heatshield and therefore could not be used for earth reentry.

At the time of the explosion, the return time to the earth was over four days. Because the LM did not have enough oxygen or water for this length of time, it became necessary to use the LM lunar landing engine for a major propulsive maneuver in space to change the spacecraft's path and speed its return to the earth. Overcoming numerous life-threatening problems, including near freezing temperatures and excess carbon dioxide in the LM, Apollo 13 successfully reentered the earth's atmosphere for a landing in the Pacific Ocean on April 17, 1970, over five days after launch.

The cause of the explosion was traced to a chain of events resulting in the ignition of the insulation covering a wire inside one of the three liquid oxygen tanks in the CSM. It occurred when a fan (to which the wire was connected) was turned on to stir the liquid oxygen inside the tank.

Article 12-How Space Stations Workby Craig Freudenrich, Ph.D.

The International Space Station

Image courtesy of NASA

The International Space Station (ISS)

In 1984, President Ronald Reagan proposed that the United States, in cooperation with other countries, build a permanently inhabited space station. Reagan envisioned a station that would have government and industry support. To help with the enormous costs of the station, the U.S. forged a cooperative effort with 14 other countries (Canada, Japan, Brazil, and the European Space Agency, which is comprised of: United Kingdom, France, Germany, Belgium, Italy, the Netherlands, Denmark, Norway, Spain, Switzerland and Sweden). During the planning of the ISS and after the fall of the Soviet Union, the United States invited Russia to cooperate in the ISS in 1993; this brought the number of participating countries to 16. NASA took the lead in coordinating the ISS's construction.

The assembly of the ISS in orbit began in 1998. On October 31, 2000, the first crew of the ISS was launched from Russia. The three-member crew spent almost five months aboard the ISS, activating systems and conducting experiments. The ISS has been manned ever since and is scheduled to be finished in 2011.

Also set for 2011 is the launch of an orbiting laboratory by China called Tiangong-1. In October, 2003, China became the third nation ever to launch manned spacecraft. Since then, China has been developing a full-fledged space program including a space station. The Tiangong-1 will be capable of docking multiple Shenzhou spacecraft and will serve as the first module of a proposed Chinese space station planned to be completed by 2020. The space station may have both civilian and military purposes.

Speaking of the future, let's take a look at what could be in the stars, so to speak, for space stations.

Article 13-Challenger DisasterOn January 28, 1986, the American shuttle orbiter Challenger broke up 73 seconds after liftoff, bringing a devastating end to the spacecraft’s 10th mission. The disaster claimed the lives of all seven astronauts aboard, including Christa McAuliffe, a teacher from New Hampshire who had been selected to join the mission and teach lessons from space to schoolchildren around the country. It was later determined that two rubber O-rings, which had been designed to separate the sections of the rocket booster, had failed due to cold temperatures on the morning of the launch. The tragedy and its aftermath received extensive media coverage and prompted NASA to temporarily suspend all shuttle missions.

Background In 1976, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) unveiled the world’s first reusable manned spacecraft, known as the space shuttle. Five years later, shuttle flights began when Columbia traveled into space on a 54-hour mission. Launched by two solid-rocket boosters and an external tank, the aircraft-like shuttle entered into orbit around Earth. When the mission was completed, the shuttle fired engines to reduce speed and, after descending through the atmosphere, landed like a glider. Early shuttles took satellite equipment into space and carried out various scientific experiments.

Did You Know?

After "Teacher in Space" Christa McAuliffe was killed during the 1986 Challenger disaster, her backup, a former math teacher named Barbara Morgan, served as a mission specialist during a 2007 flight of the shuttle Endeavor.

Challenger, NASA’s second space shuttle to enter service, embarked on its maiden voyage on April 4, 1983, and made a total of nine voyages prior to 1986. That year, it was scheduled to launch on January 22 carrying a seven-member crew that included Christa McAuliffe, a 37-year-old high school social studies instructor from New Hampshire who had earned a spot on the mission through NASA’s Teacher in Space Program. After undergoing months of training, she was set to become the first ordinary American citizen to travel into space.

Challenger’s Catastrophic Launch The mission’s launch from Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, Florida, was delayed for six days due to weather and technical problems. The morning of January 28 was unusually cold, and engineers warned their superiors that certain components—particularly the rubber O-rings that sealed the joints of the shuttle’s solid rocket boosters—were vulnerable to failure at low temperatures. However, these warnings went unheeded, and at 11:39 a.m. Challenger lifted off.

Seventy-three seconds later, hundreds on the ground, including the families of McAuliffe and the other astronauts on board, stared in disbelief as the shuttle exploded in a forking plume of smoke and fire. Millions more watched the wrenching tragedy unfold on live television. Within instants, the spacecraft broke apart and plunged into the ocean, killing its entire crew, traumatizing the nation and throwing NASA’s shuttle program into turmoil.

Investigation by the Rogers Commission Shortly after the disaster, President Ronald Reagan appointed a special commission to determine what went wrong with Challenger and to develop future corrective measures. Headed by former secretary of state William Rogers, the commission included former astronaut Neil Armstrong and former test pilot Chuck Yeager. Their investigation revealed that the O-ring seal on Challenger’s solid rocket booster, which had become brittle in the cold temperatures, failed. Flames then broke out of the booster and damaged the external fuel tank, causing the spacecraft to disintegrate.

The commission also found that Morton Thiokol, the company that designed the solid rocket boosters, had ignored warnings about potential issues. NASA managers were aware of these design problems but also failed to take action. Famously, scientist Richard Feynman, a member of the commission, demonstrated the O-ring flaw to the public using a simple glass of ice water.

Aftermath of the Challenger Disaster After the accident, NASA refrained from sending astronauts into space for more than two years as it redesigned a number of the shuttle’s features. Flights began again in September 1988 with the successful launching of Discovery. Since then, the space shuttle has carried out numerous important missions, including the repair and maintenance of the Hubble Space Telescope and the construction of the International Space Station. On February 1, 2003, a second space shuttle disaster rocked the United States when Columbia disintegrated upon reentry, killing all aboard. While missions resumed in July 2005, the space shuttle is slated for retirement in 2011.

Ten years after the Challenger tragedy, two large pieces from the spacecraft washed ashore on a Florida beach. The remaining debris is now stored in a missile silo at Cape Canaveral.